Student Senate appoints two new members

From left to right, Sen. David Hylton, Vice President Sam Kinsey, Senate President Garret Kegel, Clubs and Events Board President Justin Nicholson and Sen. Laurie Jones listen to Dean Adam Karp’s presentation on American River College’s accreditation during the Student Senate meeting Thursday. Members discussed the universal transit pass measure up for a vote on Sept. 22 and 23. (Photo by Jordan Schauberger)

The Associated Student Body (ASB) Student Senate started their meeting on Thursday by appointing two new members to the board and elevating two current members to new positions.

Kevin Phan and James Cortwight were both appointed to the board as student senators while current senators David Hylton and Laurie Jones were elevated to the positions of director of finance and director of legislative affairs respectively.

Phan said that he hopes to be an embodiment of the American River College population while he serves as senator.

“My goal is to be a bridge between students and school officials,” said Phan. “The (main) thing I want to effect here on campus is the unification of the school as a whole.”

Cortwight billed himself as a voice for underrepresented students.

“I want to present a different outlook for the board,” said Cortwight. “As a tutor, I’ve worked with disabled students and I’m taking sign language at ARC.I want to bring those experiences to the board.”

The Senate passed two bills during Thursday’s meeting.

The board allocated $300 a piece to fund the printing of bike locker forms and on advertising for the Measure A vote on the universal transit pass to encourage students to vote yes. Both bills passed by a vote of 4-1.

“I think that things are being done out of order,” said Sen. Jones, who voted against both bills.

“I’m not against what the bills are doing, but we need to find out how the Joint Budget Committee (JBC) is going to divide funds between Student Senate and CAEB before we approve to fund these bills.”

Adam Karp, the dean of planning, research and technology, gave a presentation to the board on the upcoming accreditation process that ARC will be going through.

“A team of our college peers will be coming to campus from Oct. 5-8,” said Karp. “They will be confirming and clarifying the self-evaluation report for ARC that we have created and then sending out their recommendation.”

Students will have an opportunity to attend two forums on Oct. 6 and 7 to ask the team questions and get their voices heard during the accreditation process.

Throughout the majority of the meeting, there was constant miscommunication on the rules that the board needed to be following.

“We want there to be a better understanding of the procedures,” said ASB President Garrett Kegel. “We’ve motion for (CAEB President) Justin (Nicholson) to have parliamentary powers because he has a very strong understanding of the correct procedures.”

The board approved a resolution in response to 138 reported crimes on campus between January and March 2015.

The resolution calls for education on crime and sexual assault prevention, implication of more technology, allocation of resources and collaboration between the ASB and administration.